Thanksgiving Day Alphabet

By: Beverly Barras Vidrine
Illustrated by: Alison Davis Lyne
Publisher: Pelican Publishing
Publicatiopn Date: August 2006
ISBN: 978-1589803381
Reviewed by: Holly Connors
Review Date: July 2010

Alphabet books are nothing new. They’ve been around since parents and schools started teaching children to read and write and have effectively used topics from animals to fruit to teach the alphabet. But while most use fun topics to teach the alphabet, Thanksgiving Day Alphabet doesn’t just teach the alphabet, but educates children on all sorts of fun and historical facts about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day Alphabet opens with a one page overview of Thanksgiving, when/how/why the first holiday was celebrated and is accompanied by a picture of pilgrims and Native Americans sitting around the first Thanksgiving table. Then it’s on to the alphabet!

The topics the author has chosen don’t just center around the first Thanksgiving but instead, many teach about events that happened later in our country’s history. For example:

L is for Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln became president many years after the colonists landed in America. In 1863 he proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday.

The author also avoided using the obvious for many of the letters. S is for squash? No, not in this version:

S is for Samoset and Squanto. The two Native Americans became friends with the colonists. They spoke the English language and helped the settlers survive in the New World.

Quill says: Thanksgiving Day Alphabet is the perfect way for children to learn about King James I of England, the Mayflower, the Wampanoag and lots of other things surrounding the celebration of Thanksgiving.